Barcelona Picking Griezmann Over Suarez Was Terrible Decision, Ex-Real Madrid Star Says

Former Real Madrid forward Antonio Cassano doesn’t understand why FC Barcelona sent Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid and gambled on Antoine Griezmann.

Barcelona had a major revamp this past summer. Though the Catalans didn’t sign any prospect, they let Suarez, one of their most decorated strikers, leave.

With the Uruguayan now out of the picture, Barca expects Griezmann to be more aggressive in attacking. However, the Frenchman has seemed far from what Suarez was.

Sharing his thoughts on the subject, Cassano stressed that Barcelona was wrong about putting Griezmann over Suarez. For the ex-Los Blancos star, the 33-year-old’s stat speaks for itself and his age has never been an issue.

"Luis Suárez too old? In my view, it was a crazy idea to let him leave Barcelona,” Cassano pointed out on Christiano Vieri’s Instagram channel via AS. “He scored 350 goals in six years and I don't understand why they let him go. And they go and use [Antoine] Griezmann as a central striker.”

Cassano could’ve been right about his claim after all. In fact, prior to leaving Barcelona for Atletico, Suarez has exceeded Ladislau Kubala to become the club’s third best goalscorer of all-time.

The arrival of Ronald Koeman as the new Barcelona coach attributed to Suarez’s departure as he was not seen as a vital piece to the club's new vision. However, the Dutchman insisted that the former Barca star could’ve stayed if he wanted to.

“He [Suarez] finally made the choice to leave and I said: 'If you don't leave, for whatever reason, then you are just one of the group, then you can prove that I was wrong',” Koeman revealed. “He could have stayed, yes.”

Griezmann, on the other hand, has not lived up to the hype and has been an inconsistent player in Barcelona.

Many, including Philippe Montanier who handled Griezmann at Real Sociedad, believe that Messi’s influence in the club affects the French forward's performance.

“He's had the misfortune to slip into a difficult moment, (even) at Barcelona which is in the middle of a crisis and dependent on the moods of [Lionel] Messi, which affects every level of the club,” Montanier recently said of Griezmann.

Nevertheless, Montanier insists that “Le Petit Prince” only needs to relax a bit and he should be back in his fine form once again.

“Griezmann needs to enjoy his football, play and joke to get the most out of his potential,” he concluded. “But that's not the impression you get watching him at the moment."